Cracker, Ex-Camper Van Beethoven Members Join For Tour

For the second time this year, Cracker--the alt-rock outfit led by ex- Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery--has enlisted ex-Campers Victor Krummenacher, Greg Lisher and Jonathan Segel to appear on several Cracker tour dates.

The revue-style shows--dubbed the "Traveling Apothecary" tour--will feature Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven songs, as well as material from the solo projects of the tour's participants. (Due to the free-form nature of the performances, music writers and concert promoters are being asked not to portray the shows as Camper Van Beethoven reunion gigs.)

Fans should expect to hear unusual renditions of each band's songs. When Cracker and the ex-Campers played in Petaluma, Calif., earlier this year, the ex-Campers played on several Cracker songs and vice-versa.

Though there's no guarantee that the upcoming shows will follow a similar format, the previous concerts featuring Cracker and the ex-Campers often opened with hour-long sets spotlighting the solo efforts of Krummenacher, Segel and Lisher. After an intermission, the ex-Campers joined Cracker for sets of more than 100 minutes that generally consisted of 2/3 Cracker material and 1/3 Camper material, according to a press release announcing the tour.

The Sept. 16 show at Browns Island in Richmond, Va., will not feature an opening set by Krummenacher, Lisher and Segel; instead, they will play a set at the Richmond club Sweetwater later that evening. A free Sept. 20 show in Nashville will also commence without opening sets by Krummenacher, Lisher and Segel, as will the tour's Sept. 23 stop in Huntsville, Ala.

Camper Van Beethoven split in 1990, but an "oddities/live" collection titled "Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead, Long Live Camper Van Beethoven" was recently released by Lowery's independent label, Pitch-a-Tent.

Cracker has been on the road all year in support of "Garage D'Or" (Virgin), a 10-year anniversary retrospective collection.